NARD laments training fund for 1,600 unpaid resident doctors
As many as 1,600 members of the Nigerian Association of Resident Doctors from over 30 healthcare institutions across the country have yet to receive their medical residency training funds as of 2020, Sunday PUNCHreports.
It was even then that the NARD warned that it could take drastic measures if nothing was done by the federal government to pay the MRTF to doctors and meet its other demands.< /p>
Last year, the association asked the government to pay the MRTF 2020 to members who had not yet been paid and to review the consolidated medical salary structure, among other things.
Medical residency training is specialized postgraduate training for physicians and dental surgeons who must be certified as specialists in a specialized branch of medicine or dentistry.
The MRTF is the fund paid to medical residents by the federal government through the Integrated Payroll and Personnel Information System for the purposes of the training program.
Speaking in an interview with our correspondent, NARD Chairman Dr Emeka Orji said the association would write to the government regarding their growing concerns.
"For 2020, we have over 1,600 resident doctors who have not been paid to the MRTF. You can see that is a large number of people from 30 centers involved.
“We will be holding our January National Emergency Council meeting in Uyo in less than three weeks. In fact, we are preparing to write to the government to inform them of this growing unrest.
"Remember, there was an ultimatum last year that passed. People shouldn't be surprised if we end this meeting in Uyo with something drastic, we have to so get the government's attention and see how they can respond before this meeting.
"We have done everything we were asked to do and provided everything we were asked to provide and so far I believe the Federal Department of Health and the Federal Department of Finance have not come to an agreement on what is needed before doctors who were missed in 2020 are paid.
“We just see it as a delaying tactic; we have done the ground work, trying to convince them, but there is a limit to what national officers can do. We are only worried that this is a very critical time in this country to shut down health services and that is why we are going to draw the attention of the government to this this week, hoping that they see the danger and try to remedy to these problems. ."
Speaking further, Orji said the association was not aware of any government plans to review doctors' salaries.
"The government has agreed to set up a committee for the CONMESS review, but as things stand, NARD does not know if the committee has been set up or is meeting . As far as we as an association are concerned, we have not seen any movement on the part of the government to accede to this request because we have not been summoned to any meeting on this subject."
Efforts to reach Federal Ministry of Health Deputy Director/Head, Media and Publicity Ahmadu Chindaya for comment were unsuccessful.
He has not taken calls and has yet to respond to a text message sent to him at press time.
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As many as 1,600 members of the Nigerian Association of Resident Doctors from over 30 healthcare institutions across the country have yet to receive their medical residency training funds as of 2020, Sunday PUNCHreports.
It was even then that the NARD warned that it could take drastic measures if nothing was done by the federal government to pay the MRTF to doctors and meet its other demands.< /p>
Last year, the association asked the government to pay the MRTF 2020 to members who had not yet been paid and to review the consolidated medical salary structure, among other things.
Medical residency training is specialized postgraduate training for physicians and dental surgeons who must be certified as specialists in a specialized branch of medicine or dentistry.
The MRTF is the fund paid to medical residents by the federal government through the Integrated Payroll and Personnel Information System for the purposes of the training program.
Speaking in an interview with our correspondent, NARD Chairman Dr Emeka Orji said the association would write to the government regarding their growing concerns.
"For 2020, we have over 1,600 resident doctors who have not been paid to the MRTF. You can see that is a large number of people from 30 centers involved.
“We will be holding our January National Emergency Council meeting in Uyo in less than three weeks. In fact, we are preparing to write to the government to inform them of this growing unrest.
"Remember, there was an ultimatum last year that passed. People shouldn't be surprised if we end this meeting in Uyo with something drastic, we have to so get the government's attention and see how they can respond before this meeting.
"We have done everything we were asked to do and provided everything we were asked to provide and so far I believe the Federal Department of Health and the Federal Department of Finance have not come to an agreement on what is needed before doctors who were missed in 2020 are paid.
“We just see it as a delaying tactic; we have done the ground work, trying to convince them, but there is a limit to what national officers can do. We are only worried that this is a very critical time in this country to shut down health services and that is why we are going to draw the attention of the government to this this week, hoping that they see the danger and try to remedy to these problems. ."
Speaking further, Orji said the association was not aware of any government plans to review doctors' salaries.
"The government has agreed to set up a committee for the CONMESS review, but as things stand, NARD does not know if the committee has been set up or is meeting . As far as we as an association are concerned, we have not seen any movement on the part of the government to accede to this request because we have not been summoned to any meeting on this subject."
Efforts to reach Federal Ministry of Health Deputy Director/Head, Media and Publicity Ahmadu Chindaya for comment were unsuccessful.
He has not taken calls and has yet to respond to a text message sent to him at press time.
Please share this story:
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